Rail knocker

ABSTRACT

A self propelled rail vibrating or knocking device which is capable of walking along a railroad track in synchronism with machinery such as rail heating machinery utilized in the laying of welded rail to bring the rail to a mean temperature. The rail knocking device administers a series of rapid hammer like blows to the rail as it walks along it, which blows tend to lift the rail up and thereby relieve the frictional force caused by the weight of the rail length in contact with the base plates. This momentary lifting of the rail relieves the internal stresses created in the rail by the heating operation and leaves the rail in good condition for a securing operation, such as spiking.

Stewart 51 Sept. 16, 1975 RAIL KNOCKER [75] Inventor: John Kenneth Stewart, Columbia,

[73] Assignee: Canron, Inc., Phillipsburg, NJ.

22 Filed: Sept. 23, 1974 [2]] App]. No.: 508,168

[52] US. Cl 104/1 R; 104/12; 173/142 [51] Int. Cl. B61B 12/00 [58] Field of Search 104/1 R, l0, 12; 173/142 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,766,859 10/1973 Byrne lO4/l R Primary ExaminerM Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Randolph A. Reese [57] ABSTRACT A self propelled rail vibrating or knocking device which is capable of walking along a railroad track in synchronism with machinery such as rail heating machinery utilized in the laying of welded rail to bring the rail to a mean temperature. The rail knocking device administers a series of rapid hammer like blows to the rail as it walks along it, which blows tend to lift the rail up and thereby relieve the frictional force caused by the weight of the rail length in contact with the base plates. This momentary lifting of the rail relieves the internal stresses created in the rail by the heating operation and leaves the rail in good condition for a securing operation, such as spiking.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures RAIL KNOCKER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In certain operations of rail laying for example in the laying of long strips of welded rail it has been the practice for some time to lay the rail on base plates on the ties but not to secure the rails to the ties and thereafter to heat the rail to a mean temperature for the geographical area before securing the rail to the ties, say by spiking. Because the rail lengths are long and are extremely heavy, the sheer frictional forces created by the laying of the rail on the base plates is sufficient to prohibit the natural expansion of the rail when it is heated and in order to relieve the stresses set up in the rail by the heating, it has been the practice for men to strike the rail with hammers to move the rail momentarily to relieve the friction caused by its weight and thereby permit expansion to take place in the area where the rail has been struck by a hammer.

Obviously the employment of personnel solely for the purpose of wealding hammers during a rail heating operation is uneconomical and inefficient.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a self propelled mechanised rail knocker which will walk along the track in synchronism with other equipment, for example a rail heater, and vibrate the rail in such a fashion that it will lift the unsecured rail momentarily from the base plates to enable the rail to expand (or contract if the rail is being cooled) to stress relieve the rail prior to the securing thereof to the ties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a self propelled rail vibrator comprising a chassis; nondriven means on the chassis for engaging each rail of the track; a vibrator means mounted on the chassis adjacent one rail; means on the chassis to drive said vibrator; said chassis including a leaf member extending longitudinally of said one rail and carrying a pair of said non-driven means for engaging the track spaced longitudinally on said leaf member unequally on either side of the center of mass of the vibrator to engage said one rail. The device may conveniently include means on the leaf member for engaging both sides of said one rail to center said leaf member thereon and to transmit vibration thereto.

In a preferred configuration according to the invention the vibrator means comprises a rotary outofbalance weight and a hammer means for transmitting the vibration from the out-of-balance weight to the one rail. The hammer means may suitably comprise rail head engaging roller means and a pair of web knocking heads beneath the leaf member for engaging on either side of the head and web of the rail.

According to a further feature of the invention the pair of means for engaging the one rail are adjustably mounted on the leaf member so that their longitudinal spacing may be varied.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the pair of means for engaging one rail comprise a non-driven roller beneath the leaf member for rolling engagement with the head of the one rail and a friction block means beneath the leaf member for sliding engagement with the head of the rail. Preferably, the nondriven roller is spaced longitudinally of the leaf member by a greater distance from the center of mass of the vibrator than the friction block means is spaced therefrom. The non-driven means for engaging the second rail may suitably be a non-driven rail head engaging roller. v

In a preferred construction the rotary out-of-balance weight is mounted in bearings substantially above the one rail and driven through a drive shaft by a prime mover mounted substantially over the second rail of the track on a heavybase member which forms part of the chassis and which is connected to the leaf member by a transversely extending connecting rod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following is a description by way of example of one embodiment of the present invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an end view of a rail vibrator, or knocking device, mounted on the rails of a railroad track;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the device shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device seen in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings.

A self propelled rail vibrator, or knocker, 10 comprises a chassis 11 which generally comprises a heavy base plate 13 connected by means of a slightly flexible connecting rod 14 to a platform 15 from which extends a flexible leaf member 16. The chassis sits on the track by means of non-driven means such as rollers 20, 21 and friction blocks or pads 23. Centering rollers 27 which engage the sides of the head of one rail 28 of the track are provided to center the leaf member 1 l on the rail 28 and transmit vibration thereto.

The leaf member 16 extends longitudinally of the rail 28 and the roller 21 and friction block 23 are mounted in slides 30, 31 so that they can be adjusted longitudinally of the leaf member 16. Mounted on the base 13 is a prime mover which suitably is an internal combustion engine 34 which by means of a slender flexible drive shaft 35 drives an out-of-balance weight vibrator member 26 mounted in pillar block bearings 37, 38 on the platform 15. The base 13 is such that it reduces transmission of vibration from the out-of-balance weight 26 to the engine and similarly the connecting rod 14 is designed to transmit very little vibration to the engine. The vibrator means comprises together with the ouf-of-balance weight 26 and the rollers 21, 27, and block 23, a pair of hammer heads 39, shown here as bolts threaded in flanges 40 extending beneath the leaf member 16 so that the hammers 39 can engage the web of the rail 28.

In operation the motor 34 is started and its throttle setting arranged so that the speed of movement of the walking of the vibrator 10 along the track will be in synchronism with the rail heater which preceeds it and the motor 34 through the shaft 35 rotates the out-ofbalance weight 26. The out-of-balance weight transmits its vibration through the rollers 21, 27, friction block 23 and the hammer heads 39 to knock the rail 28 and provide a rebound and an upward component of vibration sufficient to reduce the weight of the rail 28 on the base plates (not shown) on which the rail rests on the ties T. This knocking or vibration is sufficient to relieve the stresses built up in the rail due to the heating (or cooling) operation. By adjusting the relative positions of the rollers 21 and friction pad 23 relative to the center of mass of the vibrator 10 (which in the configuration shown can be taken to be approximately along the center line of the flexible drive shaft 14) the direction of walking of the vibrator can be determined. Thus if the roller 21 is farther removed from the center of mass of the vibrator than is the friction pad 23 then the vibrator 10 will walk in the direction of the roller 21. However, if the configuration is changed to that shown in the dotted lines in FIG. 2 wherein the friction pad 23 is farther removed from the center of mass of the vibrator 10 than the roller 21, then the vibrator will walk towards the friction pad 23, that is to say to the right as seen in FIG. 2. Tests have proven that the length of the leaf member 16 from its point of support to the point of the center of mass determines, because of the flexure or springing of the leaf 16, the direction in which the vibrator 10 will move.

Thus with its speed regulated by the throttle of the motor 34 and its direction determined by the relative positioning of the roller 21 and the pad 23 with respect to the center of mass of the vibrator 10, the vibrator proceeds along the track vibrating, or knocking, the rail 21 to produce the lifting component aforementioned to momentarily lift the rail from its base plate and permit it to expand to accomodate for the heating. It is to be understood that if a cooling operation were performed that stresses would also be set up in the rail and the procedure of knocking the rail would similarly relieve those stresses.

After the knocking operation the rail can be secured to the ties.

What I claim as my invention is:

"1. A self propelled rail vibrator comprising a chassis; non-driven means on the chassis for engaging each rail of the track; a vibrator means mounted on the chassis adjacent one rail; means on the chassis to drive said vibrator; said chassis including a leaf member extending longitudinally of said one rail and carrying a pair of said non-driven means for engaging the track spaced longitudinally on said leaf member unequally on either side of said center of mass of the vibrator to engage said one rail.

2. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means on said leaf member for engaging both sides of said one rail to center said leaf member thereon and to transmit vibration thereto.

3. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 in which the vibrator means comprises a rotary out-ofbalance weight and a hammer means for transmitting the vibration from the out-of-balance weight to the said one rail,

4. A vibrator as claimed in claim 3 in which the hammer means comprises rail head engaging roller means and a pair of rail web knocking heads beneath the leaf member for engaging on either side of the head and web, respectively, of said one rail.

5. A vibrator as claimed in claim 3 in which rotary out-of-balance weight is mounted in bearings substantially above said one rail and driven through a drive shaft by a prime mover mounted substantially over the second rail of the track.

6. A vibrator as claimed in claim 5 in which the chassis includes a heavy base member on which said prime mover is mounted, the base member and leaf member being connected by a transversely extending connecting rod 7. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 in which the pair of means for engaging said one rail are adjustably mounted on said leaf members so that there longitudinal spacing may be varied.

8. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 in which the pair of means for engaging said one rail comprises a nondriven roller beneath said leaf member for rolling engagement with the head of said one rail and a friction block means beneath said leaf member for sliding engagement with the head of said one rail.

9. A vibrator as claimed in claim 8 in which said nondriven roller is spaced longitudinally on said leaf member by a greater distance from the center of mass of the vibrator than said friction block means is spaced therefrom.

10. A vibrator as claimed in claim 8 in which the nondriven means for engaging the second rail of the track is a non-driven rail head engaging roller. 

1. A self propelled rail vibrator comprising a chassis; nondriven means on the chassis for engaging each rail of the track; a vibrator means mounted on the chassis adjacent one rail; means on the chassis to drive said vibrator; said chassis including a leaf member extending longitudinally of said one rail and carrying a pair of said non-driven means for engaging the track spaced longitudinally on said leaf member unequally on either side of said center of mass of the vibrator to engage said one rail.
 2. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means on said leaf member for engaging both sides of said one rail to center said leaf member thereon and to transmit vibration thereto.
 3. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 in which the vibrator means comprises a rotary out-of-balance weight and a hammer means for transmitting the vibration from the out-of-balance weight to the said one rail.
 4. A vibrator as claimed in claim 3 in which the hammer means comprises rail head engaging roller means and a pair of rail web knocking heads beneath the leaf member for engaging on either side of the head and web, respectively, of said one rail.
 5. A vibrator as claimed in claim 3 in which rotary out-of-balance weight is mounted in bearings substantially above said one rail and driven through a drive shaft by a prime mover mounted substantially over the second rail of the track.
 6. A vibrator as claimed in claim 5 in which the chassis includes a heavy base member on which said prime mover is mounted, the base member and leaf member being connected by a transversely extending connecting rod.
 7. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 in which the pair of means for engaging said one rail are adjustably mounted on said leaf members so that there longitudinal spacing may be varied.
 8. A vibrator as claimed in claim 1 in which the pair of means for engaging said one rail comprises a non-driven roller beneath said leaf member for rolling engagement with the head of said one rail and a friction block means beneath said leaf member for sliding engagement with the head of said one rail.
 9. A vibrator as claimed in claim 8 in which said non-driven roller is spaced longitudinally on said leaf member by a greater distance from the center of mass of the vibrator than said friction block means is spaced therefrom.
 10. A vibrator as claimed in claim 8 in which the non-driven means for engaging the second rail of the track is a non-driven rail head engaging roller. 